Secret Feelings Finally Revealed
by BuBBly CaNis luPus
Summary: Hebi travels inconspicuously through night and day in search on Akatsuki. What will happen when they see a pink-haired girl tied to a tree? Eventual SasuxSaku, NaruxHina. I'll try. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Yahoo! I finally finished editing this chapter! I decided to do this since I thought that this story was really unorganized...so here it is! Thanks for reading this fanfic!**

**Disclaimer: Seriously, whoever made the disclaimer is really dense. Why would I own Naruto in any form or way?**

_&&&&&_

**Secret Feelings Finally Revealed**

Chapter 1

Sasuke's handpicked team called "Hebi" wandered toward an Akatsuki hideout they had heard about in a rumour. They traveled in almost complete silence, but Karin and Suigetsu always ruined it by arguing about petty things. Everything was fine. No shinobi hunting them, no fan-girls chasing them. Everything went smoothly, as if it were a routine.

All was normal until Karin sensed a flickering chakra nearby. It was very weak, as if the person was hiding their chakra, or they didn't have any left. Sasuke decided against leaving the stranger alone for it was probably an enemy shinobi. Hebi followed the trail Karin suggested they should take until they reached a girl tied up to a tree.

Her head was rolled to the side in effort to see who had come to greet her. Although she was hardly in the position to do so, she glared at the group of shinobi before her with as much venom as she could. Her clothes differed from the usual outfit of a chunnin in Konoha, but it was familiar to Sasuke.

The red shirt he had seen her wear many times before was ripped up and in shreds. He couldn't help but notice how frail and weak she looked. To Sasuke, she looked almost unrecognizable, but her bright pink hair gave away her identity. She was still shorter than him, but the years apart made her look older and more feminine. She was no longer flat chested either and her curves were more noticeable.

_Sakura? _thought Sasuke as he walked unemotionally up to the tree and examined the rope binding her waist, arms and legs to it. _Hmm, this rope absorbs chakra, quite useful. _Sasuke used his chidori on his katana and cut the rope free. Sakura was barely conscious as she fell forward, only to be caught by strong arms.

She lost consciousness as Sasuke picked her up bridal-style.

_**&&&&&**_

"Would you like me to carry her?" offered Juugo as they started to travel again.

"That's all right, I'll do it," came Sasuke's quiet voice.

"Why are we doing this anyway?" complained Karin. "How is she going to help us anyway? She can't even stand up on her own." Karin's complaints went ignored as Suigetsu posed the question that lingered in his head.

"Do you know her?"

"…She was once my teammate in Konoha."

_**&&&&&**_

They traveled without a word for another 20 minutes before Sakura woke up. She had gained very little chakra, but it would be enough to punch one of her 'saviours' and heal the worst wounds she had. She opened her eyes slightly to see her captor's face.

Sasuke.

She had expected as much, since she too was looking for Itachi. But she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the arms of her childhood crush. The very same boy who had broken her heart so many years ago. The same boy who was carrying her now bridal-style.

She had pictured this moment so many times in her childhood that it was painful. In her imagination, they had just gotten married as he held her closely, just like the way he did now.

Sakura shook her head to rid the images in her mind. There was a reason why she was here, now she just had to fulfill it. But it was so strange to see him free of Orochimaru's grasp, yet still entangled in his plans. Yes, Sasuke had killed his master 2 years ago, but he had made no progress since then.

Sakura prayed and gathered as much chakra as she could spare into her fist and swiftly punched Sasuke in the jaw. Said boy dropped the girl in his arms as she jumped a few feet away panting hard. Astonishment slapped him in the face once again as she peeled off her shredded left glove with her teeth and started healing her broken right arm without tearing away her gaze from the quartet. A sickening pop was heard as she put her bone back into its proper socket.

_What had happened to the fragile Sakura who cried at every little thing? When did she learn to heal herself this quickly?_

"Should we kill her?" Suigetsu's voice broke Sasuke's train of thought.

"No…at least not yet. She might yet be useful to us."

"What about her comrades?"

"What comrades?" Sakura's voice echoed through the forest. "We were separated. And no this is not a trick," she added when Karin's mouth opened to argue. "Whoever senses chakra in your group would be able to feel them before anyone else if they did come."

"Why were you tied up to a tree?" Suigetsu asked.

"Same reason you're keeping me alive."

"Who did it?"

"Oh, I don't know. The same pair of shinobi you're tracking," she answered almost mockingly.

"Don't you play smart with us, wench," threatened Karin before she was hushed by Sasuke.

"What did they want?"

"Wouldn't tell you if I knew, I was under a powerful genjutsu, the only source of nutrition I got was water for a week and my chakra was drained everyday. Need I say more? Besides I wouldn't betray my village for **anything**." She narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. "Unlike some people here."

Sasuke returned the gesture although that remark had stung him a little. Damn, he was starting to get soft. "You can't harm us in the state you're in, and you can be useful to us, so you should get used to seeing our faces for awhile."

"Why, Sasuke? When she regains her chakra, she'll run away and leak information on us!"

"She already has information on us."

_Karin will not like being chained with Sakura. Suigetsu will turn into water if she tugs on the rope… Juugo'll kill her, so I guess it's up to me_.

Calmly, Sasuke took some rope from his pouch and placed chakra into it. He then walked up to Sakura and tied the rope around both their wrists like handcuffs. Sakura did not object for she was too weak to do so. Before Sakura had the chance to adjust to her new 'teammates' she was put to sleep by Sasuke with a jutsu similar to the one Gaara used to fight Naruto.

Sasuke caught her before she fell and carried her piggyback style. Hebi then departed for a place to rest before it was completely dark as Sakura dozed innocently on Sasuke's back.

_**&&&&&**_

Sakura awoke to find herself in a cave beside a sleeping Sasuke. In the past she would've been drooling, but he had caused her so much pain that she saw him as an enemy now. Sure she still wanted him to come back, but she would be a friend to him.

Nothing more, nothing less.

The only other person awake was a tall young man at the entrance of the cave. Sakura sensed a killing intent surrounding him as dark skin enveloped his pale one.

"Must kill…kill the new girl, no the boy. The new girl would be nice…must kill…kill." Juugo walked over to Sakura on unsteady legs as his arm deformed and took a new, lethal shape.

Sakura stood up and closed her eyes ignoring the fact that she had dragged Sasuke partly with her. _I can do this… Good-bye Naruto, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-shishou. Arigatou for everything._

She waited for the pain to come, but it never did. She opened her eyes slowly only to see Sasuke standing in front of her muttering something to Juugo.

"Gomenasai, Sasuke. I tried to stop-"

"It's okay. Go back to sleep it's still early." He turned to look at Sakura with his signature smirk on his face. "Didn't know you didn't care for your life. Go back to sleep." He paused, "Next time don't forget that when you move, you pull me with you too."

With that he laid back down on the cold, hard stone as his breathing grew even once again. Sakura followed shortly after observing the others sleep, although this time, she kept her distance from Sasuke.

_**&&&&&**_

**TBC!! How did you like that?! Post comments and stuff!  
**

**Please read and review!** **Criticism is welcome if it helps me improve my writing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Can't believe I had enough time to do this one too. Wow. I have got to learn how to live my life. Thanks for reading!**

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**S****ecret Feelings Finally Revealed**

Chapter 2

"I don't need your help! I can walk fine on my own!"

"Sakura, don't be difficult. Get on my back. I don't have to be a genius to know that you're already using chakra to steady yourself and that you don't have a lot of it left."

_Dammit! My body can't produce chakra as easily as it used to since it's accustomed to having it drained immediately. If only I could_—Sakura train of thought was interrupted as Sasuke threw her on his back. Not piggyback style, but potato sack style. Yes, Sakura's face was level with Sasuke's rear-end while his ear was right next to her own.

"Put me down! I am not a sack of potatoes!"

"I told you to get on my back, you could have done it willingly, but you didn't." Came Sasuke's mocking reply.

"…Fine. Just don't get all perverted on me."

_How dare that pathetic excuse for a kunoichi cling to __**my**__ Sasuke?!_ Thought a fuming Karin. _Not only did that whore appear out of nowhere and join our group, she just had to stick to Sasuke like glue. She'll pay for this later…_

**_&&&&&_**

Hebi was resting in a small clearing as Suigetsu and Sasuke roasted a rabbit each.

"There's no point of roasting them when you just used your chidori on them, Sasuke."

"…This way they taste better."

Juugo was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, talking to a few squirrels as Sasuke and Suigetsu cooked lunch. Meanwhile, Karin sat a few feet away from Sasuke, glaring at Sakura every so often. She had finally been freed from the rope that had tied her with Sasuke and she was currently taking a nap with her back against a tree some fifty feet away.

Karin began growing irrated when she noticed that Sasuke kept glancing at the pink-haired kunoichi's way. Finally, she stood and stalked up to Sakura with her comrades watching carefully.

"I'm trying to sleep here," growled Sakura with her eyes still closed.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot that trash sleeps on dirt," Karin sneered as she glanced at Sakura slyly. But her comment went ignored by the shinobi she was trying to anger.

"You know if you let me rest peacefully, I might be able to regain enough chakra to travel without any help from Sasuke and you wouldn't have to watch him carry me."

"W-what are you talking about, wench?!" Karin sputtered, angry and embarrassed at the same time.

"What do you mean? You don't have to be a genius to see that you're infatuated with him. I'll let you on a little secret:" Sakura lowered her voice slightly as if she was telling something important.

"I used to be his biggest fangirl until I grew up and realized that I was chasing a cold-hearted jerk who was obsessed with power. If you really think about it, you'd live your life in misery if you really did end up with him. What do you see in him anyway? Do me a favor and shut the hell up. You can have him for all I care, I'm just trying to get him back where he belongs, and that's all. You wouldn't understand since you've always been an underling of Orochimaru. "

"How dare you say that!" Karin swung her leg forward, aiming for Sakura's head, but Sakura grabbed her ankle easily and smirked.

"You weren't gonna kick a weak, fragile girl like me now were you?" Sakura said as she gripped her ankle tighter. Sakura then threw Karin a few feet away with as much strength as she could muster. Karin landed in the soft grass and recovered immediately to run up to Sakura.

"I let my guard down. You probably don't even have enough energy to stand up, always leaning on Sasuke," Karin taunted as she looked behind her coolly. Sakura was already on her feet with a fist full of chakra, which made contact with Karin's cheek. Karin flew and hit a tree on the opposite end of the clearing.

"Don't push it. I won't hold back next time. I was using only half of the chakra I usually use." Sakura sat back down and leaned against the tree she was occupying earlier when something flew across the clearing, only to be caught by Sakura's swift hand.

"I believe this is yours, Sakura. It was near the tree you were tied up to when we found you." Sasuke looked over at Karin who was about to charge at Sakura. "Karin, calm down. I won't allow any injuries slowing down my goal." He glared at her menacingly. "I won't allow any of my teammates hurt by someone who doesn't even have chakra left to stand her own feet either."

Sakura opened the pouch that Sasuke had thrown at her. It was her medic pouch, which contained some basic medicine and tools, a few scrolls and weapons (which were obviously removed). She rummaged through her pouch until she found what she was looking for. She peeled of her useless pair of gloves and replaced them with her spare ones she had received from Tsunade.

Sasuke watched quietly as Sakura smiled lightly and fell back asleep, hugging her medic pouch.

**_&&&&&_**

"Kiba! Where's Sakura-chan?!"

"Shut up, Naruto! How many times to I have to tell you?! I need to concentrate!" Kiba yelled as he stopped. Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, Yamato, Shino and Hinata slid to a stop, mimicking Kiba's actions. Kiba's eyes flew open in surprise after a few moments.

"I smell Sakura…and Sasuke?"

"WHAT?!" Naruto literally exploded. "Where?!"

Kiba pointed somewhere in east as Akamaru started to jump toward it. Naruto's bushin disappeared as thousands more came rushing.

"Which one of you is the original?!" yelled Kiba as he searched the ever growing crowd of clones.

Suddenly, Naruto jumped and landed on Akamaru's back as Kiba spotted a struggling Hinata and pulled her up. She was obviously afraid of riding Akamaru, for she closed her eyes and held onto Kiba tightly. Naruto was staring at her, slightly drooling, until he looked away in jealousy at Kiba who had Hinata's arms around his waist and started grumbling to himself.

"Stupid Kiba…getting Hinata-chan all scared and stuff…hugging Kiba when there's a perfectly huggable Naruto right beside her…"

Hearing this, Kiba started chuckling to himself. Hinata was like a sister to him and besides, he already had a girlfriend back in Konoha.

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**Reviews! Reviews! And more reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to animefan0000012345 since she gave me some ideas. Thanks a bunch!**

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**Secret Feelings Finally Revealed**

Chapter 3

Team Kakashi had finally arrived at the clearing where Hebi was eating lunch at a few moments after Karin and Sakura's little battle. Karin had sensed their chakra in advance and made sure Hebi was prepared for battle. Sasuke tied a struggling Sakura to a tree and made sure she couldn't flee when her teammates arrived.

As Team Kakashi approached, Suigetsu laughed at the states they were in. The 8 team member, including Akamaru, were beat up and tired from traveling.

"Ha! What a joke? _These_ shinobi are supposed to be our enemies? What kind of idiotic shinobi leaves their comrade to die tied up against a tree?"

"Shut up!" Naruto answered. "It's not our fault Itachi and Kisame ambushed us while we were looking for Sasuke!"

**&&&&&**

_Flashback_

_Team Kakashi was walking on a path to a nearby town that smelled of Sasuke when 2 dark figures blocked their way to the gates of the village._

"_Kakashi, huh? This is gonna take awhile," complained Kisame while yawning nonchalantly. _

"_We must end this quickly, Kisame. Remember, the Akatsuki only wants Naruto-kun, but we should try to dispose of his teammates as well. You take care of the rest, I'll take on Kakashi." With that Kisame charged at Hinata, who dodged swiftly seeing his unnecessarily large sword._

"_How dare you attack Hinata-chan! You coward!" Naruto yelled as he charged into battle. Kakashi stopped him before he could do any harm and looked him in the eye._

"_Naruto, this is may be your fight, but they will only capture you if you intend to run in the battle recklessly. He turned to Sakura, who was already in her fighting stance, and said. "I'm afraid that you'll have to sit out of this fight too, Sakura. We're counting on you to heal us afterward." Naruto and Sakura jumped away reluctantly and watched carefully as the fight begun. _

"_Shino, Hinata, protect Naruto! Yamato! Kiba! Sai! Don't do anything that'll injure you more than the enemy. And at least __**try**__ to stay out of harm's way." _

_Itachi launched his attack, after Kakashi's orders, which contained all kinds of jutsu. Kakashi countered them easily and hurled his own at Itachi. The fight wasn't getting anywhere, even though Itachi was far stronger than Kakashi. He had to hold back a bit for his mangekyo sharingan was hurting his already poor eyesight. The two fought endlessly, not knowing who would come out alive._

_Kisame charged at Yamato as he swung his sword. Yamato blocked the enormous sword the best he could using a kunai, but Kisame's Samehada was too powerful. It threw Yamato easily into a nearby tree. _

_At that moment Kiba and Akamaru slammed into Kisame shouting ' GATSUGA!!'. But Kisame managed to block Akamaru's attack by slapping him away with Samehada. Kiba was barely able to hit Kisame in the stomach, but he somehow managed to do so. However in return, his massive sword skinned Kiba. He was thrown over to the side with half his clothes ripped of, revealing nasty wounds and crimson blood that seeped into the ground._

_ Akamaru whined and brought Kiba to Sakura as Sai distracted Kisame with his ink creatures. Kiba was put in front of Sakura as she healed him. Even as she healed him, she knew the wounds would drag him behind until he could rest._

_As the fight continued, Team Kakashi continued to wear out quickly. Kakashi was about to collaspe from utilizing the sharingan too often, when Kisame and Itachi abruptly disappeared. Gone, just like that. _

_Nobody moved. Was it a trap or were they really gone? They waited until Kakashi's body could no longer hold on. Shino caught him before he could fall as Sakura and Naruto helped Sai and Yamato get to their feet._

**&&&&&**

_Sakura was about to heal Kakashi when Hinata entered the small cramped tent with the intention of helping Sakura. Naruto kept Sai and Kiba company as Shino and Akamaru kept watch. Yamato was sleeping contently after the vigorous battle, even though he didn't do much._

"_Kakashi-sensei! You're all healed," The young medic-nin declared cheerfully. She then looked at Hinata, "Could you keep watch? I'm going to go find Shino."_

"_Hai, Sakura-chan." Sakura smiled and exited the tent._

"_Shino! Akamaru! Come here!"_

"_Yes, Sakura?"_

"_You must be exhausted, I'll take over now, if you'd like."_

"_Are you not tired also?"_

"_Nope! I'm full of energy! Now, as the medic of this team, GO TO SLEEP!" Shino looked at her uncertainly before he walked into the other tent he shared with Kiba with Akamaru following behind closely. Akamaru turned around almost hesitantly and gave Sakura a comforting lick on the face. _

_She giggled slightly at his antics before jumping into a tree and making herself comfortable. It was gonna be a long night._

**&&&&&**

_ A few hours into Sakura's watch, her eyes started drooping, but they were fully alert when someone's hand clamped over Sakura's mouth, muffling her screams before taking her away._

"_Sakura-chan! Where are you?!" Naruto's yell echoed through the forest. When no one answered, Naruto began searching frantically for her, in the funny way you see in anime where in one second, they've looked in a hundred places. _

_When nothing came up, he called for Kiba to help him. Kiba limped slowly out with Akamaru by his side, irritated since he was woken up so early. He sniffed the air and jumped into the tree, which was previously occupied by Sakura a few hours ago. He sniffed it again and gasped._

"_N-naruto, Itachi's scent is here too. But both scents disappear a few meters away as if Itachi transported away with Sakura. I also smell fear and panic on Sakura's behalf."_

"_Quite a sharp nose you have, dog boy," Kisame remarked as he charged at Kiba._

_End Flashback_

**&&&&&**

"Then Kisame fought all of us, but it wasn't really a fair fight since half of us were injured and exhausted and stuff like that," Naruto babbled on. " Kisame then separated us and Kiba, Hinata-chan and Shino had to find and regroup us again."

"Telling a story, eh? Sorry to interrupt then."

Kisame pounced at Sakura with Samehada ready to shred her flesh.

_**&&&&&**_

**Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I would like to clarify a few things here: at the end of chapter 3, Sakura is sleeping and at the beginning of chapter 4 she is tied up to a tree. Well, Sasuke woke her up and tied her to the tree so that she wouldn't escape when Naruto and the others came. **

**She wasn't tied up to the tree and fighting Itachi and Kisame at the same time since the fighting part was a flashback that Naruto was explaining. She was tied up to the tree during the entire chapter. Afterward, it says that Itachi and Kisame took her, but she was still with Sasuke. **

**Sakura **_**was**_** taken away my Itachi and Kisame, but they left her tied up to this **_**other**_** tree after interrogating her. That's how Sasuke found her, tied up to a tree with her chakra drained when Itachi and Kisame left her to die. **

**Also, Kisame separated Team Kakashi, but they regrouped with the exeption of Sakura. Kisame appears out of nowhere after Naruto has explained the flashback to attack them again. Sorry for the confusion.**

_&&&&&_

**Secret Feelings Finally Revealed**

Chapter 4

Instinctively, Sasuke leapt in front of Sakura to protect her. Sparks flew as he blocked Kisame's Samehada with his own katana. As soon as Kisame leapt away, Sasuke turned around and swiftly cut Sakura's ropes and jumped to safety with her in her arms.

Sasuke glared at Itachi, focusing 17 years of hate into it, but Itachi's half-blind eyes were focused on Sakura's slim figure.

"We do not wish to fight foolish little brother, we were sent to capture Naruto-kun…and Sakura-san."

"Oi, Kisame!" Naruto's yell echoed, as he pointed a finger at said people accusingly. "Stop picking on the girls, you coward. And you keep your filthy hands off of Sakura-chan! What do you want with us anyway?!"

"Akatsuki has requested a talented medic-ninja, therefore we have been sent to gather Sakura-san."

"Why didn't you just take her earlier when you kidnapped her, huh?" Kiba barked at Itachi.

"Easy, dog boy. We needed some info, so we took the easiest target available. We left her without knowing that we needed her later. Then we did know that we needed her, we came back," Kisame answered nonchalantly.

"Well, you're not getting her this time!" Kiba was about to charge, when Itachi appeared in front of him and kicked him harshly in the face. Kiba flew across the clearing and slammed into a nearby tree.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata's outburst was silenced by Akamaru's loud growl. Kisame whacked him out of the way to join his master.

"Feisty, are we?" taunted Kisame. "You know it's not _necessary_ to fight with us. It saves time, energy and even your pathetic lives." He grinned a wicked smile and offered a proposition: "Why don't we take the girl now, and come back later and see if you can hang onto Naruto?"

"No way! We'd nev—" Naruto's reply was cut short for Sasuke had rudely jumped toward Kisame, interrupting his conversation, and attempted to cut off Kisame's head. Without his reflexes, Kisame's head would have been rolling on the dirt, but unfortunately, he was able to block the blow with his unnecessarily large sword.

"Itachi! Your brother is awfully impatient. Mind if I take him down?"

"Do what you wish, just end it quickly. I'll handle the medic." Itachi stared at Sakura who was struggling against Juugo's strong arms that we're keeping her in a strong headlock. Before Itachi could even move a finger, Kakashi had a kunai pressed to his throat.

"I hope you're not in a hurry, we have some unfinished business, Itachi."

"I'm afraid I cannot stay, Kakashi-san. By supreme order of the Akasuki I must capture Naruto-kun and Sakura-san." With that Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Barely a second after Itachi reappeared, Sasuke was behind him, chidori pulsing in his hand as he cut off the head of Itachi's kage bushin.

"Itachi! Stop screwing around with me and fight me like the man you would have been if you didn't massacre our clan!"

"Tsk,tsk, Sasuke. Little brother, you won't be able to kill me when you're so impatient," Itachi declared as he struck a kunai at Sasuke's neck. Sasuke spun around quickly to stab at…empty air.

Itachi had disappeared at the last moment, like all good ninjas do, and reappeared at Juugo's side. Juugo's head rolled to the side as he stared into Itachi's eyes, getting lost in his genjutsu. The moment Sakura was freed from her captor's arms; she jumped into a nearby tree, straining her neck to look for her injured teammates.

Kiba and Akamaru were still knocked out while Kakashi and Yamato were fighting Kisame. Desperately, Hinata was standing at Kba's side trying to protect him from harm's way as the rest her teammates were restraining Naruto from attacking anyone. She scanned the area one more time. Hebi was scattered all around, some fighting while others stood watching. Yet someone was still missing.

"Sakura-san, do not struggle and I will not hurt you," Itachi's breathed down Sakura's neck, causing her to shiver violently for several reasons. She jumped out of the trees to the safety of the ground and the safety of people around her, with Itachi right behind her.

Itachi was quicker than Sakura and landed a few seconds before her, his stance offensive and ready to grab her, until Sasuke knocked him over. Sasuke rolled on the ground … his arms full with a log. Itachi appeared to be gone…until Sakura found herself in his arms and losing consciousness fast.

**_&&&&&_**

"Kisame, we have retrieved one of our targets, we must retreat swiftly if we wish to escape," ordered Itachi quietly.

"Eh? Caught her already? And I was having fun with these two." Kisame pointed casually behind him at Kakashi and Yamato, not even sparring a glance at his opponents. (Idiot, he turned his back on his opponents.) Kisame jumped promptly to Itachi's side.

"Don't you dare think that we'll let you take Sakura-chan away from us!" Naruto leaped beside Kakashi, ignoring the disapproving stare he gave him.

"Naruto, I don't think we can save Sakura at this point. We're either exhausted or injured or both. We'll have to rest before we can take them down."

"But, Kakashi–sensei! Sakura-chan needs us, we have to help her." Naruto's eyes turned red in anger, thinking about what had just happened. He turned to yell something at Itachi…but Itachi and Kisame had disappeared and they had taken Sakura with them.

Sakura, one of his best friends, was just captured before his eys, and worst of all, he couldn't do anything about it. Naruto's gaze wandered to Sasuke who was standing there, frozen like a statue. Blue eyes met onyx ones, and for a moment, both wondering what to do next.

**_&&&&&_**

**I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story even though it takes about a month, give or take a few weeks, for me to update. Thank you very much and I will try to post a new chapter during my Christmas break.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Finally finished chapter 5! Boy, did that take a long time. Sorry for not updating sooner. I guess I just update slowly. Very slowly.**

_&&&&&_

**Secret Feelings Finally Revealed**

Chapter 5

Both teenagers looked around for an excuse to escape the awkward moment. What was there to say when one of your best friends had tried to kill you several times since you were 12? The silence resided for a moment longer before Hinata coughed timidly, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Anou…I think that it might help all of us achieve our goals if we work together for a while." She eyed her audience before continuing; making sure that everyone was listening. "If-if we had a temporary alliance, then we would be able to capture the Akatsuki faster. Sasuke-san would be able to find Itachi and we," she pointed to her and her teammates, "would be able to find Sakura-chan." Silence followed Hinata's suggestion until Naruto raised his hand slowly, a frown on his friendly face.

"Hinata-chan," his expression showed that he had something clever and witty to say, but it was Naruto. "I didn't get a thing you said." Naruto shook his head in despair. "You use big, confusing words too many times. I'm sure some other people didn't get it either, right?"

"Actually Naruto, it's just you. We all got what she said, except for you." Sai muttered, annoyed that his teammate couldn't understand the simplest things if the word 'raman' wasn't in it. Naruto pouted stubbornly.

"Then why don't you explain it again, Hinata-chan? With simpler words please," he added.

For a moment confusion swept across Hinata's fragile features; she didn't know how to put it any simpler than it already was.

**_&&&&&_**

Sakura groaned as her captor jumped to another tree.

She had been in the same position for about an hour, and her muscles were getting cramped. Itachi had been carrying her the same way Sasuke had. 'Potato sack style' was what she called it.

The carried person, in other words Sakura herself, would be thrown onto her captor's shoulder facing her captor's back with her legs on the other side. It was also Sakura's most hated way of being carried.

A sigh erupted from Itachi as he spoke quietly to Kisame, who grinned at her menacingly. The last thing she saw before she was knocked out was the daunting red eyes of a sharingan user.

**_&&&&&_**

Sai and Yamato departed swiftly after they had discussed a plan of pursuit. With too many members, the entire operation would fall apart. Yamato had selflessly volunteered himself and Sai to return to Konoha and report to Tsunade-sama since they needed Kiba, Shino, Hinata and Akamaru to track the Akatsuki's whereabouts.

Both teams had agreed on the conditions of this 'mission'. Sasuke, Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin were to be considered as allies until both goals were fulfilled and they would depart after said goals were terminated.

Kiba and Akamaru lead the first group of shinobi while Shino lead the second one. Kakashi and Sasuke had decided that if there were too many people, they would be discovered, thus they were divided into 2 groups.

Kiba's platoon was following the trail his nose had sniffed out whilst Shino's squad followed fifty feet away. Kiba, Kakashi, Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke were put in the first group because they needed Kiba's nose, Kakashi and Naruto were trying to find Sakura, Sasuke wanted to fight Itachi alone and, in Naruto's words, 'If Hinata-chan isn't with me, then I'm not going!' Shino, Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin were simply back-up members in case anything happened.

Kiba and Akamaru lead their group into a deep forest just outside of the borderlines of Konoha. They had been surprised when they found Sakura's scent dreadfully fast.

Something was wrong. It was all too easy.

Sakura, Itachi and Kisame's smells were too clear. Kiba looked around suspiciously when a new smell wavered into his nose.

"Wait!" Kiba commanded as soon as the new scent became apparent. "There's someone or something up ahead that I've never smelt before. Be on guard, it might be an ambush or a-"

"Watch out! Kiba, he's in front of you!" Kiba turned around in time to see a monster coming towards him. With a cry, Kiba and Akamaru disappeared from sight.

**_&&&&&_**

The bed sheets shifted as Sakura woke up from her little 'nap'. She rubbed her eyes as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Her new room was very small with only enough room for a bed, a dresser and a mirror. There was also a bathroom attached to her room, which was poorly lit. In fact, the entire room was very dark with dim light bulbs and lamps. Sakura's eyes wandered her environment once again until they landed on a strange figure in the corner of her room. She gasped as she realized who it was.

"Took you long enough to wake up, brat. You should know by now that I hate waiting."

"H-how are you here?" Sakura asked with a look of astonishment on her face. "Chiyo-baa sama and I defeated you. This is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, brat. You're just narrow-minded to things you don't understand," Sasori paused for a moment before continuing his little 'speech'. "Besides, you'll find out soon enough. There are others that your village thought they killed, but they seem to be alive and well at the moment. Nevertheless, I am your guard for the moment so be quiet. I'm going to stay here until someone comes to replace me so let's make this encounter a calm one, shall we?"

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but Sasori had unceremoniously shoved food into her mouth. "Eat up. You need to conserve your energy."

"…Fine." Sakura glanced at the plate of food before her suspiciously before taking a bite out of her meal. She felt uncomfortable under Sasori's unwavering gaze.

Before she would explode from the tension, she asked:

"Why do I need to preserve my energy?"

"Ugh, I hate waiting. The shinobi who's supposed to explain why you're here is late. Again. If he isn't here soon, I'm going to—" Sasori's threat went unheard as a more…cheerful voice introduced itself into Sakura's room at the Akatsuki Headquarters.

"Ah! Sasori-sempai! You're not in that disgusting puppet for once!" Deidara walked in with a bright smile on his face, which was wiped off immediately when he saw Sasori's impatient face. "Oh right, I'm late. Sorry Sasori-sempai, I lost track of time, un."

"It doesn't matter just do what you came to do," Sasori grunted.

"Ah! Sakura-san, I was sent here to help explain to you our master plan, un. You see Akatsuki was created to-"

"What the hell is going on here? How are you two still alive? Both of you are supposed to be dead!" Sakura paused in her ranting to calm down. "Would you please explain something to me? What do I have to do with anything?! Don't you want Naruto? I am so confused at the moment." Sakura sighed wearily as she waited for their response.

"Hmm, where to start? Well Akatsuki was created for one reason and that reason was—"

"World domination." A calm, quiet voice spoke while opening the door to Sakura's room.

Sakura gasped as she noticed that his strange, piercing eyes were fixated on her.

**_&&&&&_**

**Woot! Another chapter is done, just like I promised if anyone bothered to read the revised edition of Secret Feelings Finally Revealed. Yes I deleted a chapter, but that chapter was just combined with another since it was not good enough to be on it's own. And my new goal is for every entry I make to have over 1000 words in it and that's why I edited this story.**

**Anyway, sorry for the OOCness of Deidara and (maybe) Sasori. A pathetic excuse would be that I don't know enough about them. Also, did anyone notice my pathetic attempt at a cliffie? It was horrible, I know, but at least I finished, right? In any case, please REVIEW! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the reviews! I'm so happy; I have like 42 alerts for this story! Yay! Anyway, I'm soo sorry for not updating for such a long time! My stupid computer broke down and I couldn't do anything about, but now it's all fixed! So updates will be coming. Just slowly… Please be patient.**

_&&&&&_

**Secret Feeling Finally Revealed**

Chapter 6

Kiba and Akamaru had disappeared for over 15 minutes, and yet, no one dared to move a muscle. They waited until Kiba's cries vanished from their hearing to plan their next move.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to do now?" Naruto whispered cautiously to his mentor. "Should we keep going without Kiba, or follow him? I want to save him and stuff, but Sakura needs us more! Kiba can handle himself, we just have to trust him." Kakashi gave him an apprehensive look.

"Although I'd like to keep going, we need Kiba to track down the Akatsuki's hideout. My nose isn't keen enough to locate Sakura's scent. And my dogs' aren't going to be able to help either. Without Kiba, this would be pointless. We're going to have to use the byakugan to find Kiba now."

Kakashi watched expectantly at Hinata as she summoned chakra to her eyes. Veins appeared around her eyes as she searched for Kiba and Akamaru diligently.

She gasped as she found the monster that had taken away her teammate. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as she looked at a horror unseen to the rest of the group.

"Th-this can't be true," whispered Hinata. "There's a dragon-like creature fighting Kiba-kun and Akamaru. But there's also another figure with them, I think he's the one who summoned the dragon. He's not doing anything, but he looks dangerous. And Kiba-kun's not doing so good against them either."

"Then lead the way Hinata-chan! We need to save Kiba's pathetic ass quickly if we want to rescue Sakura-chan, right?"

**_&&&&&_**

Sakura shivered slightly as she looked into the deadly eyes of Pein, the presumably leader of the organization, Akatsuki. She tried not to look away from his mesmerizing eyes, but she could not keep a steady gaze. She glanced warily at Sasori and Deidara, hoping to see their reactions mirror hers.

Surprisingly, they did. Their faces were frozen in either shock or surprise, Sakura could not tell.

"World domination is the goal that the Akatsuki have been working towards for several years. But," he looked directly at Sakura as he said this, "we need a medic to heal the many injuries that we, the Akatsuki members obtain during our _private_missions. To gain your trust, Sakura, we will tell you all you need to know about our plans for the future. If you decide to escape, we will not hesitate to eliminate you."

Sakura gaped at Pein. She could get information on the most secret organization ever made, without lifting a finger?

Of course she would have to waste her chakra, lie to their faces, and plan an escape without getting figured out or killed, but how hard could that be? Sakura was a formidable foe because of her high intelligence, so there was no problem. She wouldn't be doing much here anyway….

Sucking up her courage, Sakura announced:

"Fine. I will help your organization but, in return, I will become a member of the Akatsuki, agreed?"

"You're not in a position to demand preposterous ideas like this, brat. Plus, you're awfully impatient to betray your village, aren't you? I truly thought that you liked being a shinobi of Konoha. What happened to that pride and arrogance?"

Sakura snorted. "I only played the good little shinobi because I had to! Not only was it despicable, but humiliating! Konoha scorned me for being weak; they only let me become a kunoichi because they wanted more shinobi. I had to _beg_ Tsunade to take me on as an apprentice since no one else believed I could make it as a kunoichi. Tsunade probably only took me on, so that she wouldn't be embarrassed that she had suck a feeble shinobi." Sakura glared at Sasori. "I can't wait to see that pathetic village burn to the ground."

"Oh is that right? Well this will be quite interesting, won't it Sasori-senpai?" Before said person could answer, Pein interrupted with yet another speech.

"Alright, Sakura. I agree on your terms. We will provide you with a much more suitable bedroom and an outfit that symbolizes our superiority. It will make you a true Akatsuki member. But," he leaned in menacingly, "someone will always be watching you. And if you make even the tiniest mistake, you won't even have time to regret your wrong doing since your head will be rolling on the ground."

Pein left an amused Sasori, a confused Deidara and a terrified Sakura to ponder his threat.

**_&&&&&_**

Naruto jumped almost frantically to Hinata's side. They had just arrived to find Akamaru and Kiba wounded badly. It was not fatal, but neither of the ninja could move without wincing.

Kakashi had ordered them to eliminate the suspicious character before actually destroying the creature.

Thus the attacking started.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Hinata attacked the dragon relentlessly, missing on purpose so their attacks would hit the owner of the creature.

He evaded all of them, without even blinking.

But the three Konoha ninja continued their assault and they watched as Naruto popped up behind the mysterious opponent and rasenganed his ass. Naruto cheered happily as his target disappeared into a puff of smoke, but not before he saw a glimmer of rinnegan eyes glaring at him.

"Naruto! Get back here, the dragon hasn't been defeated yet," Kakashi ordered when Naruto kept on yelling about their victory. Naruto appeared at his side and smiled goofily.

"What can I do, Kakashi-sensei?"

**_SLAP!_**

Naruto looked absolutely horrified at the red hand mark that had materialized on his cheek. He looked into Kakashi's eye and gaped. Kakashi sighed tiredly.

"Naruto, snap out of it. Okay, fine. You did beat the shinobi who summoned this dragon, but it was just a clone. Just a clone. Meaning that the real shinobi is elsewhere and he knows what happened. He knows what we look like, what some of are skills are and which village we are from. We still have to fight a _dragon,_ two of our members are injured, and we still haven't located Sakura —God knows what happened to her. Do I make myself clear?"

The young shinobi nodded, ashamed. He hadn't meant to do that; it was as if he were possessed.

"Hinata! Go tend to Kiba and Akamaru! The rest of us will—"

"Kakashi-sensei, we'll take care of it," Shino announced as he arrived with the remainder of his platoon of missing-nin. He gestured at his injured teammate. "You guys take care of him and leave quickly. We'll distract this beast."

Kakashi nodded and directed his former students to help Kiba. Naruto summoned some of his clones and picked up the overgrown dog with difficulty and started toward his next destination. Kakashi followed with Kiba on his back.

If Kakashi had to chose one fact that he knew for sure about the future, it would be that:

Today it would be a long day, even for a shinobi.

**_&&&&&_**

The large room seemed empty and lifeless, save for the pink-haired girl who sat in the middle of a queen sized bed. She looked around, confused how there was such a big room in such a tiny space. From where she had come from, the hallways were so narrow she had to walk sideways.

"Put on the outfit," commanded Sasori, her guard for the night. "You wanted it brat, so put it on."

"Excuse me for not taking off my clothes when a _certain someone_ keeps on watching me," Sakura huffed sarcastically.

"I was assigned here to watch you, so it's not my fault."

"…Fine. Just turn around," Sakura demanded as her face reddened considerably. Sasori just raised an eyebrow questioningly before facing the other direction.

Sakura took off her shredded clothes and exchanged them for a red, tight tank top and a pair of black spandex shorts. She put her hair up in a small bun, making sure that she had left out some hair to frame her face, and looked at her complexion in the full-length mirror. Not too bad.

She felt the hair band slip out of her hair and fall to the ground. There, much better.

Sakura wrapped the Akatsuki jacket over her slim form and looked in the mirror again. It was too big and baggy for her petite figure and it made her look… frightening, intimidating even.

Realization hit Sakura in the face.

It was not the jacket that made her look evil. It was because she had only seen it on the wicked shinobi of the Akatsuki. The very same union she was about o join. Wearing this outfit made her a fully-fledged member of the Akatsuki.

She scrunched up her face in disapproval and turned around to face Sasori. He strode over and seized the headband that she had left on the bed. With a kunai, he scratched out a thin line across the symbol of Konoha. All he said as he handed it to her was:

"Welcome to the most furtive organization ever to come to existence, the Akatsuki."

**_&&&&&_**

**Yeah! Yet another chapter in my amazing series is done! Er…it' not _that _****amazing, is it? Oh well, one must be optimistic at times! Anyway, I'm still very sorry for not updating faster. I was starting another story _and_**** I'm writing another chapter for my story 'Blessings Or Curses'. You guys should _totally_ check it out. My other story is called…wait for it…'Operation Uchiha Sakura'! Please read!**

**Click the review button and uh, umm I'll dedicate the next chapter to you…. Only if it's uh, encouraging….**


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